Game Console

The latest battle of the console wars was Microsoft's Xbox One pitted against Sony's Playstation 4. The results are in from Sony, and it looks like they have come out of the battle ahead in the game. Today Sony reported that is has sold more than 20.2 million Playstation 4's. This makes it the "fastest and strongest growth" game system in Playstation's twenty-one year history, according to Sony. Microsoft has yet to report their sales figures for 2015. Even at the end of last year the Xbox One's sales were close, but they were still lagging behind Sony's Playstation 4.

It is almost mind boggling that such a basic need, like taking a screenshot to boast about your latest in-game triumph, would take so long to implement. But they say that good things come to those who wait, and those who wait need to wait just a little bit longer. Screenshot capability is finally coming to the Xbox One console when the latest system update rolls to everyone in March. Fortunately, that's not the only reason to be excited about this update.

By this time, the concept of playing Android games on the big screen is no longer a novel idea, but there doesn't seem to be a clear winner just yet. And neither has it caught on even with hardcore Android gamers. ZRRO, a new Android console vying for your attention and your support, thinks it knows the reason why. Almost all of these force Android developers to create or retrofit their games to their controllers. ZRRO's solution? A controller that lets you "Touch the TV screen from the couch without looking at the controller."

The PlayStation 3 had its slim counterpart, actually two of them, so it seems only natural that Sony's hottest selling PS4 would also get its due. While the rumor mill has been relatively silent on that front, a batch of new photos have recently cropped up that seems to hint that such a console might indeed be coming. But considering how young the PlayStation 4 is in the market, some are calling out these leaks and think that it is too early for Sony to make such a move.

When will you see the next Nintendo console? That’s anyone’s guess, but Nintendo’s Shigeru Miyamoto has confirmed Nintendo is in the early stages of planning for their next hardware offerings. Speaking to the Associated Press, Miyamoto said Nintendo is working on “new ideas” for their next hardware offering, but are remaining committed to the Wii U. Miyamoto also suggested the next time we see Mario could be on new hardware, a move he likened to Mickey Mouse and new animation techniques.

A leaked vision of the next SteamOS "Steam Controller" this morning reminds us that it's been nearly a year since Valve took to CES 2014 and brought us our first look at Steam Machines. Here 11 months later and the finalized version of SteamOS has not yet been released. Instead we've got the latest version of the Steam Client Beta update with an image which reminds us of how much we've seen - not a whole lot. Not that the final version is going to be all that different from Big Picture Mode in Steam, that is to say.

This week the folks at PlayStation UK have decided to bring the heat to their Retro PlayStation 4 release with a system called #20YearsofCharacters. With this system they've set clues in their website that ultimately lead to a sales portal for the 20th Anniversary Sony PlayStation 4. The problem is - too many people want it all at once. The website portal is down for some, and loading with extreme slowness for most. Once in, there's no guarantee you'll find what you're looking for, anyway.

If Nintendo teamed with Google, great things would happen. Nintendo would go mobile - and it'd go mobile in style. If Nintendo teamed with Google today, they'd release their game archives as apps, all contained inside an original NES emulator, one that exists as the only place you're able to play these games outside the original NES or Wii. We can imagine this reality thanks to an artist named WoopWoopWoopWooop. He's from Reddit, and this is a mockup. It's not real, but we wish it was.

It's a sad day for video gamers, particularly those who remember or know well the industry's history and roots on this side of the world. Ralph Baer, a luminary in the video game world and creator of the Magnavox Odyssey, passed away December 6 at a ripe and well-lived age of 92. Baer received the National Medal of Technology from then President George W. Bush in 2006 and was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 2010.

Today Nintendo released Super Smash Bros for Wii U, the fifth installment in the series and close companion to Super Smash Bros for Nintendo 3DS. While the video game streaming service Twitch is not native to the Wii U, several means of transmission allow the game to be streamed by 3rd parties. As such, supposing the reviews you've read so far weren't enough to convince you to check this game out, today we're tapping in to some of the most active streams available to the public. Watch as the Smash action unfolds right this instant.